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Technology and social media: current trends in the scene

A lot has been happening around digital media most especially with social media and other new inventions. So, I thought you might find this new trends and happening really interesting. I will be sharing some news stories with you today. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Staying loyal to Samsung pays: The retrieval saga

The South Korean electronics giant got into a bit of a disaster this week. After the flaming disaster of the defective Galaxy Note 7, which drove Samsung to nix production of the device for good, the company decided to up its damage limitation strategy by offering a larger credit note for consumers who do not abandon the brand.

In a note about the expansion of its U.S. refund and exchange program for the Note 7, this as of 3pm ET today applies to all owners, including those with new replacement phones (which have been bursting into flames too). Samsung is offering those choosing to exchange the phone for any other Samsung device up to a $100 total bill credit.

Image Courtesy: icdn9.digitaltrends

U.S. consumers opting to exchange a Note 7 for a full refund or for any other brand of Smartphone are offered a smaller $25 bill credit — as a goodwill gesture for the hassle of dealing with the multiple recalls affecting the device.

But the goodwill is greater if consumers are willing to stay loyal to Samsung.It does not appear that Note 7 owners in markets outside the U.S. are being offered goodwill credit at this stage.

This week Samsung expanded its refund program to Australia and part of Asia.

Tim Baxter, president and COO of Samsung Electronics America, said: “We appreciate the patience of our consumers, carrier and retail partners for carrying the burden during these challenging times. We are committed to doing everything we can to make this right.”

At this stage it is unclear why some Note 7 devices have been exploding. After the first recall Samsung replaced the battery unit in replacement Note 7 but evidently that did not fix the problem, with consumers continuing to report problems with replacements.

Google new sprayscape app

Am sure you’re wondering what Google means by sprayscape. So basically, the sprayscrape app is just a VR (Vibration Reduction) camera app that allows you to capture the environment or snap pictures without having a blur image due to the movement of your camera.

Google describes it as “Just point your phone and tap the screen to spray faces, places, or anything else onto your canvas,” It sure sounds like an interesting app but there is a bit of an issue. Most people who have tried the app are saying the Sprayscape doesn’t simply capture a 360-degree sphere.

Image Courtesy: cdn04.androidauthority

Some people claim that “when you first try the app, it’s not immediately obvious that you shouldn’t keep your finger on the screen as you move around. All that will give you is a very blurry image.

It’s all a bit weird, but oddly fun, too.” Once you’ve captured your 360-degree photo collage, you can share your photos with the rest of the world via a link. I think Google deservers thumbs up for this innovation.

The app uses the Cardboard SDK to read gyroscope data and the Nat Cam Unity plug-in to control the camera. Google has published the app’s code on GitHub, so if you want to build a similar app, you can use Google’s code to see how it’s done. If you want to give it a try, you can download the app here.

Toke Makinwa’s vlog drama

You all know the popular OAP and Nigerian blogger who recently had a little internet drama concerning her recent vlog on what ladies within a certain age bracket should be involved in. That didn’t really end well with some people because they thought she went a bit overboard with her illustrations.

Image Courtesy: bellanaija

I personally won’t critics her but for whatever reason she had that vlog post, she has her reasons but I will like to add that blog, vlog, webners etc are specially to educate and inform the audience on educative issues.

She must have seen hers’ in that light which made her share with her audience. Whatever the case maybe, I will give one advice to bloggers and vloggers; please give out educative and highly informative stuffs. At least, your audience deserves that from you.

Facebook, twitter and over 30 other tech and media company set to fight fake news

You know what they say about stories spreading like wild fire that is exactly how fake news spread.

Therefore, Facebook and Twitter have joined over 30 news and technology companies to deal with the lingering matter of fake news and improve the quality of information on social media.

This group reveled this on Tuesday. First Draft Coalition, formed in June 2015 with the backing of Alphabet Inc’s.

Google, said it would create a voluntary code of practice to promote news literacy among social media users, and launch a platform where members can verify questionable news stories.

Image Courtesy: socialmarketingfella

The platform will be launched by the end of October according to Jenni Sargent the managing director of the coalition.

Members of the group include the, Washington Post, New York Times, Agence France-Presse, BuzzFeed News and CNN.

Over time, Facebook and Twitter have been in a struggle to manage and reduce the amount of fake stories flying on the platforms due to their many subscribers; it hasn’t been so much of a realizable course.

But with this new development, am sure a lot of things will be curtailed and reduced to the barest minimum on social media and other platforms respectively.

Google Pixel to benefit from Samsung’s Note 7 brand damage

It’s all about Samsung this week. A new research carried out by Branding Brand suggests that a decent number of Samsung consumers may end up moving to other brands after the Note 7 episode, and Google’s new Pixel phones could get a sizable hit for its new premium approach to in-house designed hardware.

Of those surveyed, which include 1,000 Samsung Smartphone owners (of any devices, not just the Note 7), has found that 40 percent of respondents won’t buy another device from the manufacturers, which represents a 6 percent increase in the number of buyers looking elsewhere compared to the first time Branding Brand ran this survey just after the first Note 7 recall.

Image Courtesy: cdn.pocket-lint

Of that group, 8 percent of those planning a switch will buy a new Google Pixel (which wasn’t yet announced when the first survey was conducted), and 30 percent will switch to iphones, with the remaining 62 percent saying they plan to go to another Android maker.

Compared to the original survey, those considering iphones dropped 4 percentage points, which means Pixel is looking like a legitimate premium competitor to some at least, alongside iphones and Samsung’s top-tier hardware.

Pixel still represents a very small percentage of buyer choices in the survey, of course, but the fact that it’s tipping the scales at all already represents a kind of victory for Google and its marketing efforts around the device.

Periscope is embracing professional streaming and expanding beyond amateur content shot on phones with its new Periscope Producer feature.

It allows creators to generate a special URL that they can then stream to from a wide array of devices, including professional cameras, studio editing rigs, satellite trucks, desktop streaming software like OBS, games, VR headsets, drones and later, potentially 360 cameras.

Periscope Producer is Twitter’s answer to Facebook’s Live API, which similarly allows news rooms, brands, web celebrities, app developers, and others to live stream to mobile and web users.

Image Courtesy: blogs-images.forbes

The feature could help fill Periscope and Twitter with more polished content, filling the gap between off-the-cuff Periscope phone broadcasts, and the big licensing deals Twitter has struck with the NFL and other premium content makers.

Periscope Producer won’t actually help make your video itself look more professional. It’s just a new pipe.

But creative content makers using their own software or equipment can create overlaid graphics, swap in images or videos, take call-ins from Skype, stream from the first-person perspective of a VR headset, or use IOS Replay Kit to broadcast live gaming footage.

Creators can even make their streams or games react to viewer comments or feedback. As exciting as it may seem, we will simply wait to try it out.

Daniel Obaike is an Entrepreneur who likes to help organizations 'WIN'. He is very passionate about assisting Organizations in Africa and other emerging economies boost revenue, achieve sustainable growth and enhance competition by utilizing Online Marketing.

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Daniel Obaike

Daniel Obaike is an Entrepreneur who likes to help organizations 'WIN'. He is very passionate about assisting Organizations in Africa and other emerging economies boost revenue, achieve sustainable growth and enhance competition by utilizing Online Marketing.

The use of social media has far progressed beyond the days of posting moody selfies and song lyric status. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are no longer the only social media sites on the scene. With new platforms constantly launching, current ones need to continuously up their game to ensure they stay relevant and fresh.

To contend with their largest rival, Facebook has released their own live video function. Currently trialed by a small section of the US population, users have the option to share what they’re seeing in real time through a status update. During the broadcast, users can see the number of live viewers, the names of their friends watching and a stream of comments. The added benefit of Facebook Live is that the videos are saved to the user’s timeline, available to watch again, whereas on Periscope, videos vanish after 24 hours.

This is great news for e-commerce brands, as it provides them with an additional platform to facilitate sales. One thing’s for sure, social media will still be an integral part of marketing in order to stay ahead of the competition, brands will need to ensure that they are aware of all new features on each social media channel, so they can utilize their online presence effectively and continuously connect with customers. Thanks for your wonderful thought.